Ken Sykora

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Ken Sykora (born April 13, 1923 in London , † March 7, 2006 ) was a British jazz guitarist and radio presenter .

Life

Sykora was the son of a Czech cavalry officer and a Swiss woman. He studied at the University of Cambridge Geography, where he led the Cambridge University Band Society organized. He then studied economics at the London School of Economics . During the Second World War he was an officer in the British secret service; after the end of the war he taught in London at the London School of Economics and at the College of Distributive Trades . Influenced by Django Reinhardt as a guitarist , he led his own band in the 1950s; with Ted Heath he appeared at the London Palladium , with Geraldo at the Stoll Theater . During this time he won the Melody Maker 's Reader's Poll for best British jazz guitarist for five consecutive years .

With his second wife Helen Grant he then moved to Suffolk and worked as a radio presenter in the following years. He hosted the program Guitar Club , String Along , and Round About the BBC . For BBC Radio 2 he presented the series Be My Guest , in which he interviewed guests like Count Basie , Bing Crosby , Bob Hope , Andrés Segovia , Isaac Stern and Gloria Swanson . Other shows Sykora oversaw included Big Band Sound, Those Record Years, Album Time, LP Parade and Jazz Digest , which were broadcast on BBC Radio 3 . He hosted Plain Musician's Guide to the History of Pop for BBC Radio 1 . From the 1970s Sykora lived with his family in Scotland, where the couple ran a hotel on the Kyles of Bute . After five years he sold the hotel, moved to Blairmore and produced programs for BBC Scotland . He produced Serendipity with Sykora for Radio Clyde, the first private radio station in Scotland . From 1978 he worked for BBC Radio Scotland and was honored with the Glenfiddich Award of the Eater's Digest for the best radio program.

Marc Mason made the documentary The Man with the Jazz Guitar (2012) about Sykora .

Discography

  • The Bob Cort Skiffle Group Featuring Ken Sykora - Ain't It A Shame (To Sing Skiffle On Sunday) ( Decca Records , 1957)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary in The Telegraph
  2. ↑ a b Obituary (2006) in The Guardian
  3. ↑ Report (2012) in The Guardian
  4. ^ The Man with the Jazz Guitar
  5. ↑ Ken Sykora at Discogs (English)
personal data
SURNAME Sykora, Ken
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British jazz guitarist and radio presenter
DATE OF BIRTH April 13, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH March 7, 2006